Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande have some fans believing they have taken their Wicked close friendship to the next level.
The stars of the new musical adaptation of the Broadway smash have sparked “lesbian lover” rumors after revealing their matching tattoos and getting extra touchy-feely during recent press appearances, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Wicked, which was released in theaters on November 22, stars Erivo, 37, as green-skinned protagonist Elphaba Throppe, and Grande, 31, as her enemy-turned-bestie Galinda Upland – later known as Glinda the Good Witch.
The co-stars have been candid about the emotional journey they’ve experienced over the past few years working on the film, fueling fan speculation about a possible romance between them.
They even got a series of matching tattoos while filming the movie, including the words “For Good” written on their palms.
The two shared that when they hold hands, the words – which is also the title of Elphaba and Glinda’s emotional duet toward the end of the show – align perfectly.
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Both Grande and Erivo also have matching poppy flower tattoos on their hands, which were symbolic in both the original The Wizard of Oz and their new film.
Other Wicked-inspired tats include Grande’s illustration of Glinda in L. Frank Baum’s original The Wizard of Oz book and Erivo’s witch hat and broomstick.
But their closeness hasn’t just been apparent through their permanent souvenirs from their time with the movie – the best friends have also been seen getting extremely close while doing press interviews.
Some fans have been questioning whether they are romantically involved, with one asking on X: “Are they friends or lovers?”
Another wrote: “Happily divorced, grammy winner and talented singer and songwriter Ariana Grande with her new lover… a Grammy, Tony and Emmy award winner Cynthia Erivo. We wish the couple the best.”
Someone else said: “Ariana and Cynthia’s interviews make Wicked seem like a lesbian love story movie.”
Meanwhile, others have labeled the two as “platonic soulmates” and have praised the stars’ closeness to have translated on the big screen.
The two have a very strong physical connection, with Erivo opening up about how they are able to communicate with touch.
The Tony Award winner said in a new interview: “I think I’m sort of used to it now. If it’s not like connected, I’m like, what’s wrong? What’s happening? Where are you? You know what I mean?
“We always end up… we walk hand-in-hand very often. Like, if we’re not walking hand-in-hand, we’ll find each other somewhere.”
Erivo, who began dating partner Lena Waithe, also an actress, around 2020, shut down rumors regarding a possible romance with the Thank You, Next hitmaker.
She explained: “I think we assume that physical connection can only be romantic. I think we don’t realize that how we communicate sometimes is by physical touch.”
Erivo continued: “Like sometimes you can’t say anything and you’re in a room and you’re like, I just that it’s just like a squeeze of hand and that’s sometimes how she and I communicate, we might be talking to someone or I might need to, like, communicate something to her.
“And I’m, it’s just a squeeze of the hand or just like a pinch of a finger, you know, or a hug. It just, you know, whatever we, however we need to communicate, it is how we need to communicate.
“And I think we don’t give enough credit to how we communicate with our friends physically.”
Grande has also sparked up a romance with her Wicked co-star Ethan Slater following her divorce from Dalton Gomez.
The singer was quickly labeled as a “homewrecker”, with reports saying she was hooking up with Slater when he was still a married man and less than a year after the actor welcomed his first child with his wife.
While the couple has kept their relationship on the down-low, he and Grande did just fly back to Boca Raton, Florida, to watch Wicked in Grande’s hometown movie theater with her grandma.
Part 2 of the Wicked film is set to have its theater release in November 2025, with many more press interviews sure to come around the same time next year.
